Mysterious object in the sky identified as a Russian spy satellite

Experts say that a fireball seen traveling over the Rocky Mountains was most likely a Russian spy satellite. Several people reported that on September 2nd they saw a glowing object fly across the sky, breaking into pieces along the way. Sightings of it stretched from New Mexico to Montana.

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Fire ball identified as Russian spy satellite

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Mysterious object in the sky identified as a Russian spy satellite

In this long exposure photo, a streak appears in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain in the early hours of Monday Aug. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A photographer take pictures in the early hours of August 13, 2014 of a Perseids meteor shower in the night sky from the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid near the municipality of Valle del Lozoya. The perseid meteor shower occurs every year in August when the Earth passes through the debris and dust of the Swift-Tuttle comet. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

KUTAHYA, TURKEY - APRIL 23: The April Lyrids, a meteor shower lasting from April 16 to April 26 each year, is seen over the ancient city of Aizanoi in Kutahya, Turkey on April 23, 2014. Aizanoi is an ancient city in western Anatolia in Cavdarhisar, KÃ¼tahya. The city has a temple built for Zeus which is the best-preserved temple in all of Anatolia, and also has a large theatre, a stadium adjacent to theatre, two Turkish-style baths, a gymnasium, five bridges on Kocacay which are still used today, an old dam, a trading building, and avenues with columns on both sides, necropolis areas and the sacred cave of Metre Steune. (Photo by Fatma Selma Kocabas Aydin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Meteor and Milky Way on summer night.

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The possibility that it was a meteorite was ruled out early due to the large area the mysterious object traversed. An individual from the American Meteor Society said that a thing of that nature would not have been able to endure such a lengthy journey. What could, and probably did, make the trip is a manmade spy device.

According to an analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, a website for military information, what people saw was likely a piece of Russia's Cosmos 2495. The reconnaissance satellite was launched in May for the purpose of gathering various types of images. Russian authorities have denied that their spy craft encountered such problems, saying that all of their military space orbiters are operating just fine. The US Strategic Command, however, confirmed that Cosmos 2495 did in fact dip into the atmosphere and as of September 3rd is no longer in their satellite catalogue.